Internal combustion engines combust a fuel and air mixture within cylinders driving pistons to produce drive torque. In some configurations, the engine includes first and second cylinder banks each including a plurality of cylinders. First and second throttles are respectively associated with the first and second cylinder banks and regulate air flow thereto. A dual control module control system regulates operation of the first and second throttles. More specifically, a primary control module regulates operation of the first throttle and a secondary control module regulates operation of the second throttle.
In traditional single control module control systems, throttle security (i.e., checking the integrity of the throttle position signal) is performed by a cross-check of accelerator pedal position versus a desired throttle position. The cross-check is performed by a watch-dog processor resident in the single control module. This security procedure is impractical to perform in the individual control modules of the dual control module control system because the accelerator pedal position and other vehicle operating parameters (e.g., cruise control, displacement on demand (DOD), drag) must be communicated to both control modules in a coordinated manner.